The Gray Rose
by Infinity Unit 13
Summary: "The world is not as simple that you can see it in black and white. For the world is grey. It is so complex that you have to look at all of the different shadings, all of the shadows, that appear between the light and dark. And once you do that, you have finally opened your eyes, and you now see the world in it's entirety." OCxRuby!
1. Grey Encounter

Ruby Rose sighed as she sat in the dustplane on the way to Beacon. Yang had asked her to go shopping for a few things, plus, she also could not wait to see the new Western style battle arena that had just opened a few days ago.

She tapped her fingers idly on her knee as she waited for the plane to land. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the plane began to shake violently, and before she knew what was going on, everything went black.

()()()()()

Ruby bolted up wards, awake. She frantically looked at her environment. It was nighttime, judging how there was no sun. And she was in an alley, but instead of looking semi-decent like she was used to, this alleyway looked very...

old and decrepit.

She looked around quietly, hefting Crescent Rose as it turned into it's scythe form. She looked up and saw that there was an open window about a story above her. She leaped into the window, as silent as a ghost. The room she was in was small, with pink walls and a pure white bed being the only furnishing or decoration in the room. She silently crept through the door, and turned to see another door to her right, open slightly, but enough to see orange light coming through it.

What she saw didn't fail to shock her.

Now, on Remnant, you wouldn't be able to kill yourself because your aura would keep all attacks from damaging you, at least, until your aura reserves were empty. But, the fact that Ruby didn't think she was on Remnant anymore, made her want to lunge for the boy in front of her with a gun pointed as his own head.

She couldn't see the boys features, since the light was right behind him and castes a shadow over his front side. There was a black notebook right beside him, opened to a page with words that Ruby couldn't make out.

The boy stared at the red clad girl at his doorway in shock. Then, his face relaxed when he saw the scythe. He spoke, and when Ruby heard his voice...

Goodness, it was like watching a toddler get run over by a train.

"So, you're the grim reaper, huh? I kind of expected a guy, but, whatever. Well, end it now." His voice was so full of depression, and frustration, and anger. He puffed out his chest, and that's when Ruby realized he wanted her to kill him.

"N-No! I-I'm not this, Reaper-thingy whatever you called it! I just happened to see your window open and I jumped up!" Ruby stuttered.

The boy tilted his head in confusion, then he just sighed. "Well, if you're here to kill me, do it already. If not, I'll do it myself."

Ruby was utterly confused and helpless. She didn't want the boy to kill himself, so she offered the best idea that came to mind at the time.

"Hey, don't kill yourself. Why don't you come with me, to my world? This is obviously not Remnant, now is it?"

The boy tilted his head. "What is Remnant, and why should I trust you?"

"Because... Just trust me, alright. Don't kill yourself, and then when I find a way back to my world, I'll bring you along, okay?"

The boy nodded. "Fine, it's not like I want to stay here anyways."

Ruby carefully stepped forward. She sighed in relief when the boy out the gun down. "Good, now, can you give me the gun?"

The boy looked down at the gun and held it out to her. "Here."

Ruby gingerly took the gun from the boy's hand. For a second, their skin touched, and Ruby found that his hand was cold. Ice cold. The gun itself was a shiny silver pistol, smaller than Ren's guns, but still a bit menacing. On the grip their were words on the side: 'Colt M1911'.

"Now that that is all settled, can I stay here?" Ruby asked.

"Huh? Why here? It's depressing in here. Why don't you stay at a hotel?" The boy suggested, which earned a tilt of the head from Ruby.

"What's a hotel?" She asked.

The boy sighed. "It's a place where travelers stay in rooms that they rent for a few nights. There's one down the street. It's better than this place anyways."

Ruby fidgeted with her fingers suddenly, and she looked down in embarrassment. "I-I don't r-really sleep well un-unless s-someone is sleeping in the same room as me." She murmured. She didn't really expect the boy to hear that, so she was surprised when the boy let out an amused grunt.

"Well, I suppose so. I think I have a spare mattress in the closet. You can sleep on the bed." The boy said.

Ruby nodded slowly, her face still a light shade of red, although the dim lighting of the room concealed it.

The boy sighed and went over to turn off the lamp behind him, his back facing her. "Hey, can you turn on that light switch for me please?"

Ruby tilted her head again in confusion. "Light... switch?"

The boy sighed. "Where do you live? Under a rock? It's the lever next to you. Except it's small and it's mounted on the wall." He said as he turned off the lamp, plunging the room back in darkness. She heard ruffling sounds and the flipping of paper. She assumed it was the notebook.

Ruby looked to her left, then to her right. She found the switch and flicked it up. The room was suddenly engulfed in white light. Ruby covered her eyes from the sudden change of lighting, but the boy remained unfazed. Now that the light was on, Ruby could see what the boy looked like.

His eyes were different colors, his left eye bright blue and his right blood red. He had midnight black hair with a single white streak going towards the back. His skin was fairly pale, and Ruby guessed it was from lack of sleep and food. He wore a grey hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, and black sweat pants. Other than that, he was pretty fit, not too much, but it would attract a good number of girls.

Not that Ruby cared!

She blushed slightly, but fought it down with all of her willpower. The boy cracked his neck and knuckles. "My name is Kazuo Grey. What's yours?" He asked with an outstretched hand.

Ruby slowly stepped towards him and shook his hand. "R-Ruby, Ruby Rose. N-Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Ruby looked around the room. It was larger than the room she was previously in, with plain white walls, a few black shelves lining the far back wall, and three beautifully made paintings that hung on the wall to her right. The closet was to her immediate left, with white wooden doors. All in all, she liked it better than her room.

Kazuo went over to the closet and opened it. Inside was a large mattress that looked like it hadn't been used in a while. He grabbed a spare set of sheets that were inside of a sealed plastic bag and a spare pillow. He laid out his makeshift bed and laid down on it.

"Well, since it's nighttime, we should go to sleep. We'll discuss your chores tomorrow when you wake up. Good night." Kazuo said.

"Good night, Kazuo." Ruby replied. After stowing away Crescent Rose, she lay down on the surprisingly soft bed. She thought about her situation. Where was she? Why was she here? And... wait, why did he say 'when you wake up'? He's going to sleep too, right?

"Hey, Kazuo?" Ruby whispered softly.

"Yes?"

"You said when I wake up we'll talk about my chores during my stay. You're going to sleep too, right?" Ruby asked, a hint of worry lacing her voice.

Kazuo was honestly surprised. He just met this girl, (who literally came into his room with a giant scythe), and she's asking whether or not he would be sleeping? Granted that, yes, he hasn't gotten any sleep since his a few days ago, but really?

"Yes, I will." He lied, using the most emotionless voice he could muster. He knew that some people were just born with the ability to tell lies, and he wasn't going to hear any demands from this girl just because he was careless.

"Okay... Well, good night." Ruby whispered.

"Good night, Ruby." He replied.

Before Ruby fell asleep, she had one last thought that made her smile.

Yang was going to kill her when she got back.

()()()()()

Middle of the night:

Kazuo felt horrible. Yes, he never really slept, but it was worse when there was someone in your room. He had to make extra sure that he didn't wake her up when he left the room.

Currently, he was heading towards the living room where he kept his fathers old gun, an M16A2 that he used in the military. He was going to disassemble it, clean it, then reassemble it again, like he always did when he felt nervous or distressed. Right now, he was doing it because he just felt like it.

He walked into the room. It was decently sized, although living by himself seemed to help with that. There was a TV on the wall to his left, set in the middle of a wooden entertainment system along with an Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4, and a PS3. To his right toward the back, two leather recliners sat, waiting to be used. To his immediate right was a doorway that led to the dining room, which flowed into the kitchen. There was also a wooden coffee table in the middle of the room, with a small gap between the bottom of the table and he floor.

That was where he kept the gun.

He pulled out a black box from underneath the coffee table, and proceeded to open it. Inside was a small black rod about the size of a screw, a firearms cleaning kit, and a grey camouflaged M16 with the words, 'Grey Scale' scraped onto the side. With practiced ease, he disassembled the gun and began to clean it. It had been a few weeks since he's done this, and the clicking of the metal parts never failed to calm him down. In about five minutes, the gun was thoroughly cleaned, and properly reassembled.

He primed the gun, but not before making sure the safety was on. He nodded approvingly of his work and put the gun back in the box, along with the rod and the cleaning kit. He sighed and got up, about to head over to the kitchen for a glass of water.

()()()()()

Ruby couldn't sleep. She had the sneaking suspicion that Kazuo had left the room, because she always slept like a rock when there was someone in the room. She didn't know why, but she just did.

She slowly rose from the bed, and saw that he had indeed left the room. She was impressed. She had not heard him leave the room at all, which was a surprise because she could hear Yang when she was clearing the fridge in the middle of the night. And her sister could be very, very quiet when she wanted to. She snuck out of the room and walked through the house. She spotted Kazuo walking towards a doorway, so she followed.

Kazuo had led her to a decent sized room, with a TV, entertainment system, weird black boxes on the entertainment system, a few leather chairs, and a coffee table. She watched from the doorway as Kazuo took out a box from under the coffee table. She saw Kazuo open the box and take out a small black box, a black rod, and a medium-sized grey object from the box.

Ruby, after a few seconds of observation, identified the object as a gun. She was about to lunge at Kazuo, but stopped when she saw him start to take it apart. She stared in amazement as Kazuo slowly disassembled, cleaned, then reassembled the gun in about five minutes. She watched as he primed the gun, nodded, and returned the items back to the box, and the box back to underneath the coffee table.

"That was... fast. But why did he do that? Guns are supposed to be self sustained, but I've never seen that gun before," Ruby asked herself under her breath, "maybe a small peek wouldn't hurt."

Ruby quietly stalked towards the coffee table, making extra sure that the floor boards would not creak. Once she got to the table, she bent downwards and took out the box. Slowly, and carefully, Ruby opened the box and took out the camouflaged gun. She held it firmly and put her finger on the trigger. She imagined herself shooting Grimm with the gun.

"Finger off of the trigger until you're ready to fire." A voice scolded from behind her.

Ruby whipped around to find an expressionless Kazuo as he held two glasses of water in his hands. He held one out to her, which she gladly took after setting the gun down. Kazuo put his glass down on the table and took the gun in his hand. He was about to put the gun away when Ruby asked him a question.

"Kazuo, can you teach how to do that?" She asked him.

Kazuo tilted his head, adopting a confused expression. "Do... what?"

Ruby pointed at the gun in his hands. "How to take it apart."

Kazuo exchanged glances between the gun and Ruby, before he let out a small sigh of amusement. "Alright. Come here." Kazuo said as he patted the floor next to him.

Ruby obeyed and sat down next to him at the coffee table. Kazuo laid the gun out on the table along with the small box with the cleaning supplies and the small rod. "Okay, so first, before we do anything with this, I want to make sure you know the Cardinal Rules of Firearm Safety. What is the first rule?"

Ruby pondered for a moment before giving a shrug. "I don't know what these Cardinal Rules are."

Kazuo sighed in response to her statement. "Okay, here are the Cardinal Rules of Firearm Safety: Number One, treat all firearms as if they are loaded at all times. Number Two, do not aim or point your firearm at anything you did not wish to harm or destroy."

Ruby interrupted him with a grin. "Duh."

Kazuo made a small smile, but it vanished as quick as it came. He continued to speak. "Number Three, finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire. And lastly, Number Four, you are responsible for every shot you take, and you must be sure of your target and what is in front of, and beyond it." He finished.

Ruby nodded, forcing herself to remember what she had just been told.

"Recite the four Cardinal Rules please." Kazuo said.

Ruby recited the four Rules, pretty much flawlessly except for the fourth rule. Kazuo gave her an approving nod and turned back to the gun on the coffee table. He cleared his throat before he spoke. "Okay, so we shall begin with disassembling this rifle. First, take this," he held up the small rod, "and push it against the pins here, and here." He said, pointing at two pins, one towards the back of he gun near the stock, and one at the front of the gun near the barrel. After the two pins were out of the gun, Kazuo split the gun into two pieces.

Throughout the middle of the night, Kazuo continued to teach Ruby how to dismantle the gun, and after a few tries, Ruby went head to head with Kazuo in a race to see who could disassemble and reassemble the gun the fastest. Kazuo won by two minutes, with a time of two minutes and twenty-four seconds. Ruby had a time of four minutes and thirty-two seconds.

Kazuo nodded approvingly before he ushered her to bed, to which Ruby protested, but obeyed nonetheless. "I have school tomorrow, and I need to be up early so that I don't miss the bus." Kazuo had said to her in a low voice.

"What's a bus?" Ruby asked innocently.

"It's a form of transportation, which you share with your schoolmates, or other people in general." Kazuo replied as he and Ruby walked back to Kazuo's room.

Ruby's face brightened at that. "So, kind of like a dustplane then!"

At her exclamation, Kazuo slightly jumped and stared at her. His expression was wavering between surprise and curiosity. "Yeah... Like a dustplane."

Ruby noticed the weird expression that Kazuo was making, and she flicked his forehead lightly. "Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it."

Kazuo snapped out of his daze and resumed walking. "Sorry."

Once they reached the bedroom and Kazuo made sure Ruby was tucked in, he laid down in his bed and waited for the night to end. He knew sleep would not come for him tonight.

It hadn't come for him since he broke.

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry, I know this story was rushed a little. Okay, a lot, but that's not the point. Please leave your reviews so the I may improve on my pacing, grammar, and anything else that you find wrong with the story. (But please don't flag this fanfic just because it doesn't suit your tastes. People who do that are just plain jerks.)


	2. To school! Kazuo's life explained!

**A/N: I am so sorry guys that I've been away for a while! School has been a pain in the neck and I'm trying to sort out my calendar and all. So hopefully, I can write more in the future. In the meantime, I was able to finish this chapter today at about 4:50AM. Yes, I do tend to stay up late, but this time it was because I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I checked this over many times, hoping to catch any mistakes, and I am fairly sure that I didn't miss any, but if I did, please leave a review telling me so.**

 **Replies to Reviews:**

 **hunter81095: Thanks for leaving a review, man! I'm not too happy with myself about that, but I'll try and fix it in the near future. Hopefully the story will become a little less rushed.**

 **MysteryAgain: I sorta had this planned out, and I was thinking of having Ruby, 'mature', but still keep that youthful innocence and her bubbly personality. And thank you for reminding me about my plans for Kazuo's past!**

 **Anyway, read on!**

 **Disclaimer: I know I forgot this the last chapter, and my other stories as well, but I DO NOT own RWBY or any main characters, just my OC.**

()()()()()

Earth, Kazuo's Apartment:

Ruby woke up, hoping that she would wake up to the creamy white ceiling of the RWBY dorm.

She didn't.

Ruby was laying down in Kazuo's bed still wearing her black dress and red cape. After stretching, she hopped out of bed and walked out of the room, rubbing the crust out of her eyes and giving a cute yawn afterwards. She found Kazuo sitting at the coffee table drinking a mug of tea with his M16 disassembled in front of him. He put the mug down and began to reassemble the gun, and after that was done, he put the gun away and finished what remained of his tea. Suddenly, Ruby jumped when Kazuo spoke directly to her.

"Good morning." He greeted without turning to her. He walked off towards the kitchen and returned with a bowl of chocolate cereal and milk. He handed it to her, which she gratefully accepted. She crunched down on the chocolate breakfast, and was immediately amazed at the flavor.

"Wow! I've never tasted something so amazing before!" She exclaimed excitedly. She devoured the rest of the food after a few more spoonfuls giving a small childish burp afterwards. Kazuo sighed and walked into his room to change.

Ruby looked around while she waited. She went to the kitchen to see if there was anymore food, but found nothing except cereal, milk, yogurt and her worst nightmare...

Two packs each of carrots, peas, celery and green beans.

Ugh. She ran out of the kitchen.

Kazuo returned to the living room, adjusting his new hoodie so that the hood wasn't inside the jacket. He wore an unzipped black hoodie with a red t-shirt underneath, blue denim jeans, red and white high-top sneakers, a black baseball cap, along with a stainless-steel diving watch that was on his left hand. There was something else that Ruby detected was different. He was wearing black wire-framed sports glasses.

He went to the recliner in the living room, and grabbed an all-black sling backpack from the seat of the chair. He turned to Ruby afterwards. "Okay, I'm going to see if I can get you enrolled into the school, so that I can keep an eye on you. Don't bring that scythe." He said as he turned towards the door.

Ruby perked up at the last comment. She jumped up in front of him. "Wait, I'm coming with you?"

Kazuo rolled his eyes as if she were stupid. "Yes, now come on. We need to get going or we'll be late."

Kazuo checked the time on his watch, which read 8:26AM. "Okay, it's 8:26 right now, and the bus gets here at 8:32. We have six minutes to get to the bus stop, so let's hurry." Kazuo said, pushing Ruby out of the door and into the outdoors. Well, it wasn't really outdoors.

They were in a city, with red brick apartment buildings and tall skyscrapers. It was sunny, and the air was fairly hot. Ruby stared at the city in amazement, before noticing that Kazuo was walking ahead of her.

"Hey, wait up!" She yelled after him. It was early morning, so there weren't too many people out today, but Ruby still had to push through a few people to get to Kazuo, who had stopped walking so that she could catch up.

"Geez, you could have waited." Ruby muttered with a pout. Kazuo's big brother instincts almost kicked in, but they disappeared after a certain thought entered his mind, a thought that had been plaguing him since his siblings' deaths.

"Sorry, I lost track of where you were." He replied sheepishly. His face barely letting out his embarrassment before it vanished from his face.

"Yeah right." Ruby said, sticking her tongue out at him childishly. What she didn't expect was for Kazuo to flick her tongue.

"I didn't know I was housing a child." Kazuo quipped. Ruby adopted an offended expression.

"I am not a child! I. Drink. Milk!" Ruby protested, emphasizing the last three words while puffing out her chest and holding her chin up high. Her exclamation brought a few stares from other people around them. Some had amused expressions, while others were flat out laughing/chuckling.

"That's... nice to know."

Kazuo stopped when they were on a corner. He checked his watch and saw that it was 8:30AM. They just had to wait for the bus now. He sat down on a nearby bench, with Ruby following suit. Kazuo pulled out of his backpack a composition notebook and a pencil. Ruby looked over his shoulder to see what he was writing.

On the top of the page, it read: Notes on the Topic of Forensic Science. Below that were a few bullet points, all with a long, long list of words following suit. He was currently finishing up another bullet point, until the bus arrived. Ruby stared at the vehicle. It was long, tall, and was large enough to contain a fair amount of people. Kazuo packed up his stuff and went to the doors of the bus, gesturing for Ruby to follow him. He took out from his pocket a few dollars for the bus fare and gave a small wave to the lady.

"Good morning, June." Kazuo greeted the driver. The driver was a young, kind-looking woman with blond hair, and vibrant green eyes. She smiled at Kazuo from the rear-view mirror and gave a wave.

"Mornin' Mr. Grey!" the driver, or June, greeted Kazuo exuberantly, "I see you got a girlfriend with ya'?"

Kazuo merely shook his head, disappointing June with the lack of reaction. "No, she's not my girlfriend. I'm just housing her. I'm trying to get her enrolled into Lopher High."

"Really Mr. Grey? This close to summer vacation?" June asked as Kazuo and Ruby took a seat towards the front of the bus.

"Well, yeah. I know that summer vacation is only three days away, but I just want to have her enrolled so that she can attend when the school year starts again in autumn." Kazuo replied.

The conversation ended there, with June too focused on driving to hold a conversation. Kazuo stared out of the front windshield from his seat in the aisle, watching as the buildings came closer and disappeared beyond his peripheral vision. After a few stops, the bus came to a stop a few yards away from a very wide building. Ruby assumed that it was the school, but it was baffling to see how small it was compared to the schools on Remnant.

Kazuo, Ruby, and a few other people got up to leave. Ruby was about to follow Kazuo down the steps when June pulled her inside the drivers cabin. (Sorry, I don't take Greyhounds, so correct me if I get something wrong.)

"Umm... Miss, what is-"

"Please don't break his heart." June cut her off. Ruby stared at her in surprise.

"Wh-What! N-No! It's n-not like that! We just met yesterday!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Still, I can tell that Kazuo sees ya' as someone that's fairly special. He's always had that problem. So please, treat 'em well. God knows what that kid has gone through to get to this point in his life." June said, before allowing Ruby to exit the bus.

Kazuo was waiting outside of the bus for Ruby, who stepped out of the vehicle moments before the bus departed. He raised a single eyebrow at her. "What was that about?"

Ruby shook her head. "I don't know. Anyways, let's go!" Ruby said, running towards the school at impressive speeds. Too bad that Kazuo was still faster than her.

()()()()()

Ruby was confused, normally, she could run much, much faster than that. But she was slowed down by some invisible force that seemed to weigh her down. She couldn't access her semblance either. Ruby thought of different reasons as to why she was as slow as she is, until she found Kazuo running next to her, taking long strides with each step. Kazuo held out his hand to slow Ruby down, slowing himself to a slow paced walk. Ruby was panting, while Kazuo barely made any noise.

He guided her through the brightly colored building to a wooden, Victorian styled room. The room was furnished with a single large, oak wood desk that was cluttered with papers and a computer, along with four book shelves on each side of the wall to the left and right behind the desk, and a small table behind the desk that held what looked like a tea set and old-school telephone, not that Ruby knew what it was.

At the desk was a middle-aged man, with black hair, warm hazel eyes, and wearing a grey blazer and dress pants. He looked up from his work on the computer, and the glazed-over, concentrated look on his face quickly morphed into a face of surprise.

"Ah, Mr. Grey! What a splendid surprise. Nice to see you today." The man said, extending his hand out for a hand-shake.

"It is a pleasure to see you as well, Mr. Lopher. I'm here today to discuss the enrollment of a... friend of mine." Kazuo said, gesturing to Ruby who was behind his back.

"C'mon Ruby. You look like a scared child." Kazuo teased lightly, although the expressionless face he wore gave no sign of his intent.

"I'm not a child, I drink milk!" Ruby protested, using her earlier words again. She timidly stepped out into the open, and gave a shy wave to the man, or rather, Mr. Lopher.

"M-My name is Ruby Rose. N-Nice to meet you."

Mr. Lopher smiled. "I'm David, David Lopher and I'm the principle of this school. It is a pleasure to meet you. Now, Kazuo, I have a question for you." Mr. Lopher said, turning to the black and grey haired boy.

Kazuo raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Why do you want to enroll her now? Summer vacation is a mere three days away, and you can just enroll her next school year in Fall. And you do realize that she needs to be certified in order to attend the school?"

Kazuo shrugged. "I just wanted her to be enrolled so that it's out of the way," Kazuo replied, "but now that I think about it, you're right. I could just enroll her in Autumn. Ah whatever. I guess I can do that. And about that certification thing, I don't know. Hopefully Mrs. Patterns will follow up on that favor she owes me."

Mr. Lopher let out an amused chuckle. "The way your brain works will always confuse me, Kazuo."

"And it's a mystery how you can drink so much of that tea." Kazuo shot back. Mr. Lopher 's smile faded and adopted a very serious expression.

"The secrets of this holy drink are mine. You would do well not to question the ways of the beverage of the gods." Mr. Lopher stated in a dark voice.

Ruby imagined Ozpin with his cup of coffee about to argue with Mr. Lopher, and she almost wanted to laugh at the scene in front of her. "U-Um guys?"

Mr. Lopher cleared his throat. "Right. Back to the matter at hand. Would you like to enroll her right now, or next year?"

Kazuo thought for moment before he came up with an idea. "How about this. She can follow me for the last three days and see what the school is like. I can be an... escort for her. Then, she can make up her mind on the last day."

Mr. Lopher nodded in approval. "That sounds like a fine idea. I'll call ahead to your teachers and tell them your situation."

Kazuo gave a small smile. "Thanks Dave."

Mr. Lopher cleared his throat professionally. "It's Mr. Lopher inside of school, Kazuo."

Kazuo shrugged, the small smile disappearing from his face. "Meh. I'll go to class now. C'mon Ruby-"

"Actually, I'll need Ruby for a minute. I just want to talk to her." Mr. Lopher interrupted. Kazuo raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyways. He walked out of the room and to the left.

"Please," Mr. Lopher gestured to the seat in front of his desk, "have a seat."

Ruby did as she was instructed and sat down in the comfortable leather chair. "What did you need from me, mister?" She asked innocently

Mr. Lopher calmly folded his hands in front of him... before letting out a long frustrated sigh. "I need your help."

Ruby tilted her head, which would've been cute, but given the atmosphere that Mr. Lopher was giving off, it's effects were completely negated. "With what?"

"I need your help with Kazuo. But before I ask you to help, I need you to know more about him." Mr Lopher said, his happy tone from earlier now replaced with a saddened and rather grim tone.

Ruby nodded slowly. She was beginning to wonder about her caring yet silent, (and near suicidal, but she wasn't going to say that out loud) temporary guardian.

"This may be a while, so please bare with me." Mr. Lopher said.

"He wasn't always like this, you know. Back then, he used to be the innocent, energetic, go lucky kid that everyone wanted to be around. He was very happy, talkative, and his parents were very, very caring. Now, one day, his mother became pregnant with a little girl. And her name was Yuuki. She was expected to be born on July 4th, and yet, fate was cruel, and decided to take her away on April 18th. This was many years back, when Kazuo was 4 years old. Her death struck him pretty hard, and the cheery boy we were used to was gone for a few months." Mr. Lopher frowned.

"At the ages of 6 and 8, Kazuo's mother gave birth to a boy and a girl, with boy named Ryouichi and the girl named Akane. At the age of 12, his mother became pregnant again, with another girl named Madoka. She died because her brain stopped growing. This was a crushing blow to Kazuo's heart. He began to see... dreams... of what his sisters would've looked like if they were born. Many of us were already worried about Kazuo's mental health, seeing as he was already different than his usual self." From his sad tone, Mr. Lopher gave way to a more lighter tone.

"But his mother and father were always there for him. Now, I've been friends with them for ages, starting from when I was deployed in Afghanistan with his dad. So, it was a crushing blow to me as well, when his mother was killed. She died in a car accident, when Kazuo was 13. At this point, the Grey family was starting to live up to their name, as some people said. It was saddening. Then, out of the blue, six months ago, his father disappeared. Just... gone. Vanished into thin air. Kazuo had just turned 18 by then, so he was able to live on his own. As for his siblings, they were handed over to me from their parents' will. They live with me and my wife downtown. There relationship is very strained as of late, seeing as they had a small argument last week, due to Kazuo's overprotectiveness."

Ruby was sitting there with a blank face, soaking in everything that she just heard. Now it made sense. His suicide attempt, his dull and dead personality. She understood it now.

And she was going to fix it.

"So, you want me to help bring Kazuo back to his feet?" She asked, her eyes nearly watering before she blinked them away.

Mr. Lopher nodded. "He's been through a lot of emotional stress throughout his life, and recently he's been lacking sleep due to the fact that he sleeps in class, which is way out of the norm. Everyone in this school knows him from his childhood, well, at least most of them, and even the new students want to help him get better. There is an occasional bully, but they aren't from this school."

Ruby nodded. She'll have to look out for those people. "So what should I do first?" She asked.

Mr. Lopher sighed. "Try and get him back with his siblings. Maybe trick him into seeing them. Anything that'll mend the tension between them right now. I'll give you their contact information, so just tell them that I sent you."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. And thank you, by the way. Well, I guess I'll go to Kazuo. Where is he again?" Ruby asked.

"Oh! Room 143. Turn left, go to the second hallway on your right, first door on the left." Mr. Lopher said.

"Thank you! Bye Mr. Lopher!" Ruby waved and walked out of the room, leaving Mr. Lopher back to his tea and paperwork.

()()()()()

Kazuo barely payed attention to the board in History Class. All they were doing was reviewing the Japanese Edo Period, and quite frankly, Kazuo had already read the entire textbook that had been handed to him four days ago. It was fairly short, being only a few inches thick. But each page was flowing with information, and those were the textbooks that Kazuo liked.

He had finished reading it two days ago, before he tried to... do that. Well, doesn't hurt to know more, right? Honestly, Kazuo wanted to smack himself. He didn't even think about his siblings when he pointed that gun at his head.

"I'm so selfish..." He muttered to himself. Suddenly, the door opened, causing everyone's head to turn to the door, including Kazuo. Ruby stood at the door, and when she spotted Kazuo, she waved at him and went over to where he was sitting. She pulled up a chair next to his desk and sat down. A few of the guys were a bit jealous, while the girls were leaning into each others ears and whispering things. Kazuo payed no mind, like he usually did. Except the only thing that is different now is that someone is sitting next to him. He sat in the middle of the back row, where he can see the board perfectly, and not garner unwanted attention.

Most of the time.

There is always going to be the occasional glance, but no one generally seems to pay him any mind. Of course, he doesn't know that pretty much everyone in the school is planning for his birthday in two days, in an attempt to cheer him up. A lot of people in this school were friends with or met Kazuo at some point in their lives. The new students were quickly informed and were immediately eager to help. It was a very, very large change when Kazuo became what he is. Everyone was so used to the upbeat and vivacious boy that always had a smile on his face, that when he changed, he felt like another person entirely.

But back to the present situation, Ruby was sitting next to Kazuo at the back of the room, watching as the teacher pointed to different notes about something called the Edo Period. She tried reading a few things on the board but their were a lot of words that she didn't know, one of the most repeated ones being Japan. "What is Japan?" She asked innocently.

A few students heard her and immediately turned their heads to look at Ruby in shock. Once the other students noticed where their friends were staring and were informed as to why, silence enveloped the room, even the teacher was slightly shocked, but she quickly turned back to the front of the class along with the other students, although they each had troubled faces. Kazuo's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.

"You don't know what Japan is?" Kazuo asked in a low whisper.

"N-No..." Ruby whispered shyly.

Kazuo sighed. "Well, I am now completely convinced that you lived under a rock."

Ruby pouted. Kazuo's hand twitched when he saw her. "I do not live under a rock!" She exclaimed.

The teacher turned around and quickly hushed her. "Be quiet, Ms..."

"Rose! Ruby Rose! Nice to meet 'ya!"

"Y-Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you as well. Now, please be quiet, there is a lesson going on and I would like it to be undisturbed." The teacher scolded, her voice kind and gentle, yet commanding and authoritative at the same time.

"Sorry..."

()()()()()

After school...

"Well, this seems way easier than Beacon," Ruby commented with a yawn, "but it is boring as boring can get."

Kazuo and Ruby were both on the way to the bus stop where they were dropped off, bringing up small talk of the school. "You mentioned this Beacon place throughout the day, what is it?"

Ruby smiled. "It's the school that I go to! Beacon Academy, where we learn and train to fight the Grimm." She explained.

Kazuo raised an eyebrow at this. 'The more she talks about the supposed world she's from, the more I think she's created a whole lie around herself.' He thought to himself.

"Well, since school is over, what should we prepare for dinner later?" Kazuo suggested, his expression unchanging.

"Uh... Can you cook?" Ruby asked skeptically. As far as she had observed, she didn't see any form of cutlery or cooking appliances, save for the microwave and stove/oven hybrid.

Kazuo actually let out an amused grunt. "You doubt my culinary prowess?" He asked, almost making sound like a challenge.

"Heheh! Why I don't see a single piece of cutlery within your walls good sir!" Ruby replied with a fake accent.

"Well, you are about to be sorely disappointed if that is what you think of me. I happen to be-"

"Hey Freak Eyes!" A boy's voice called out from behind them.

Kazuo 'tsk'ed at the voice, his fist slowly clenching . He turned around, only to be met with a swift punch to his right eye. Ruby stared in shock at the attack.

Kazuo quickly recovered, although he was holding his right eye. Then, his expression turned immediately dark. "Richard... Do want a repeat of last week?" He asked with a dark tone.

The boy named Richard gave a cocky smile in return. He was fairly tall, although not as tall as Kazuo, with fair hair, green eyes, and light skin. Ruby could tell that he was one of those stuck-up rich kid types that were sometimes seen around Beacon. For example, Weiss. But this kid brought the bar up to new heights.

"Heh! You just caught me off guard! But now I know of your little trump card!" He stated.

Richard then caught sight of Ruby. "Hey hotstuff~, why don't you hang out with me instead of this Freak? I can show you a better time." He suggested, attempting to snake an arm around Ruby's waist.

But before he could, he was sent flying a few feet by a strong punch to the gut. Ruby was surprised by the sudden attack, and found that Kazuo had punched Richard away from her. But when she saw the look on his face, she became fearful.

His left eye, which used to be bright blue, became blood red, like his right eye, and a murderous and cold expression donned his face. Richard glared at Kazuo from his spot on the ground before he got up and charged. He swung a fist towards Kazuo's right eye again, but his attack was parried, and a punch was instead delivered to his jaw.

Richard staggered, spitting out some blood before jumping right back in. He attempted to upper-cut Kazuo with his right hand, but his attack only met air as Kazuo rolled to the left, underneath Richard's guard. Extending his middle fingers knuckle, he dug his hand into Richard's side, receiving a loud yell of pain from the blonde boy. Richard crumpled into a heap, holding his side with tears lacing his eyes. Kazuo looked like he barely broke a sweat.

Ruby stared in shock at the sudden fight that had just occurred in front of her. More importantly, she stared at her temporary guardian, who was just staring at Richard as he writhed in pain. A few other students passing by seemed to shake their heads and continue walking as if this was a daily occurrence.

The bus arrived a few minutes later, with June driving still. "Hidee-ho Mr. Grey!" She greeted, waving from inside the truck. She caught sight of Richard on the ground.

"My oh my. He tried again? I'm tellin' ya', that boy's head is full nothin' but rocks and blocks!" She exclaimed as Kazuo and Ruby got on. Ruby was a bit wary of Kazuo, although his eyes returned back to their respectful colors. He and Ruby took the same seat as they did earlier during the day, right behind the driver. Kazuo had the aisle, while Ruby was next to him, occupying the window seat.

"June, I'm not in the mood right now..." Kazuo muttered, his hand twitching.

June backed off with a small smile. "Gotcha' Mr. Grey. Can't say I blame ya' though. It sucks when a bully comes around, don't it?" She asked cheerily.

Kazuo sighed and gave a short nod before sitting back into the chair. "Yeah, it does."

()()()()()

Kazuo and Ruby were walking back to the apartment from the bus stop at the moment. The walk was silent, with only the sounds of the small city around them. During the silence, Ruby began wondering about her current situation right now. 'Why am I acquaintances with a suicidal boy that I just met?' She asked herself. She looked up at him with wonder.

Kazuo noticed this, and returned her gaze. They locked eyes with each other, blue and red falling on silver eyes, and vise versa. "Penny for your thoughts?" He asked.

"N-No, I'm just thinking." She stuttered with a small blush.

Kazuo sighed. "About how you're living with someone that just tried to commit suicide the day before? Yeah, I guess that is a topic to think about."

Ruby almost tripped from shock. "H-How did you know? Don't tell me you're a mind reader!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing a finger at him.

Kazuo brushed away her finger and shook his head. "No, I'm not a mind reader. I could tell because of the way you were looking at me."

Kazuo then turned to her. "Since you are living with me for now, if you start to miss your home... planet... thing, then you can talk to me. I'll listen." He tried for a smile, but it felt so... foreign. As if it was new to him. Considering the fact that he hadn't truly smiled since three weeks ago, when he was comforting his little sis after a nightmare.

Ruby responded in kind, giving off a radiant smile that seemed to flash a sparkly white. "Thank you."

"Any time."

The walk back home was travelled in a more comfortable silence.

()()()()()

Kazuo's Apartment,

When they got home, Kazuo went to his room and told her that he would be doing homework, so she could explore the house a little bit and do something to entertain herself.

She immediately went to the weird black boxes that were next to the plasma TV. One of the boxes was half black and half gold, and it looked really cool. (PS4 Taco Bell Gold Edition) She pressed a small button that was vertical and nearly invisible, and the box started to glow with a blue light on top. It made a small beep, which made Ruby jump back, thinking that it was a bomb.

When it didn't explode, Ruby cautiously walked to it and examine it. It wasn't doing anything, but it was lightly humming. She looked at the TV, then turned it on. The screen flickered to life and showed a wavy blue screen with a sign-in prompt.

"Uh... Let's leave that alone for now." Ruby murmured to herself, pressing the small button again, turning off the black and gold console. She turned off the TV and sat down on the couch. Left with nothing to do, she decided to take a small nap. She lay down across the couch and closed her eyes, letting the darkness envelope her consciousness.

()()()()()

Ruby's Dream, Unknown Location...

Ruby was floating in the dark, only able to see her body despite the pitch blackness of the room. Suddenly, images of her friends floated in front of her.

Yang, Blake, Weiss, Pyhrra, Nora, Ren, Jaune...

Her heart leapt into her throat along with her stomach. She curled up into a ball and began to cry.

"What if I never see them again?" She asked herself as the tears fell like a waterfall down her face. The reality of the situation hit her like a truck. How was she to get back home.

The answer:

"No clue..." Ruby answered her own thought out question.

She curled even tighter, hugging her knees close to her chest.

Then, all of a sudden, a surprising feeling of warmth enveloped her body. Out of the blue, a familiar voice rang out around Ruby.

Kazuo's voice. And he was singing.

 **(CLIP: Red is the Rose; by The High Kings)**

"Red is the rose, that in yonder, garden grows." His voice softly cooed, a sudden comfort coming to Ruby as she lifted her head up from the ball she had curled herself into.

"Fair is the lily, of the val~ley!

Clear is the water, that flows from the Boyne.

Yet my love is fairer, than an~y."

Kazuo's voice stopped singing, and Ruby found herself disappointed that the soothing melody had stopped. Ruby uncurled herself and spun around, coming face to face with Kazuo's chest.

His bare chest.

When did she even see his chest?! She questioned in her thoughts as she blushed a deep red, putting her name and color scheme to shame.

But her blush got even deeper when the Kazuo avatar in her dreams wrapped her in a hug. It was warm and welcoming, so very caring, unlike the way Kazuo was in reality. She returned the embrace, and a blinding white light flooded her vision.

 **A/N: All right guys! How was that? I hoped I did a good job on explaining why Kazuo was the way he is! Also, I hoped the last part was good as well, and I had a fuzzy feeling as wrote that. Although you guys may not feel, seeing as how I am still improving, I had the feels when I actually imagined it the way I had wanted it to. Anyways, that's it for this chapter, see y'all next chappie!**


	3. Being rewritten!

**A/N: Okay guys. I know you guys have probably noticed it by now, but this story needs to be rewritten. I was trying to come up with a third chapter for this, and I just couldn't. So... Yeah, I will be rewriting this whole fanfic. Feel free to PM me for the name of the Rewrite, and I might just choose yours.**

 **Until then,**

 **A.A., signing out!**


	4. Rewrite Is Up!

"The Gray Rose" rewrite is up guys! It's name is "Red Like Roses, Gray Like Lead"!


	5. An Announcement

Hey guys. This is, as the title says, an announcement.

I've posted this announcement to inform all of you that one of my favorite authors, Mr. Nobody or YARN, has informed his readers that he has... given up.

According to one such reviewer, The Mad King Ben, he has PM'd him, and has been told that YARN really is contemplating on whether or not he should kick the bucket, and he's been told that he has said yes.

I'm afraid that Mr. Nobody or YARN will not be among us for much longer, so if you could spend just a little bit of your time and give him a prayer, then I, as well as his readers, would be greatly appreciated.


	6. Good News NOT a Chapter

A/N: Regarding the last announcement, I am relieved to inform that Mr. Nobody or YARN still lives. Unfortunately, for some time, he will not be able to write, but he is still alive.

I am sorry to those of you looking forward to a chapter, but a few of my chapters had to be rewritten. MANY times. Especially Savior, Gray Like Lead, and The Odd One. Expect a new chapter one a few of my stories next week AT THE LATEST. Hopefully, schoolwork won't be that bad and I can keep that promise.

And yes, it's a promise.

Anyways, I am just glad that my idol has not touched the light. Thank you, IU13 out.


End file.
